Just after Christmas, reports from Serbia suggested the 78-year-old's ailing marriage had been saved in the central European country, as he was spotted socialising with wife Slavica.

It appears that F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone remains in the throes of looming divorce.

Just after Christmas, reports from Serbia suggested the 78-year-old's ailing marriage had been saved in the central European country, as he was spotted socialising with wife Slavica.

But the latest reports, in the British specialist legal media and also London's Evening Standard, are that Ecclestone - whose fortune is mainly in his non-domiciled wife's name in offshore accounts - has this week switched divorce lawyers.

The Briton is now being represented by Lady Helen Ward, who made headlines last year when she represented Guy Ritchie in his hugely lucrative divorce from Madonna.

The law firms reportedly representing both Bernie and Slavica declined to comment.

However, a source assumed the divorce could involve the biggest settlement of all time. "A case of this magnitude is crying out for careful negotiation.

"This is not the sort of case that should go to court," the source said.